Celebrity Shows…

By Radical Rhymes

I remember when game shows and reality shows featuring celebrities were few and far between – one of those was Celebrity Squares, hence the title of this piece (the meaning will become clear shortly).

Game shows like Bullseye and the Generation Game involved ‘ordinary people’, by giving them the opportunity to appear on a TV show AND to win prizes. We watched with bated breath as they chose to take what they’d won, or, to gamble for the star prize.

Reality shows, like Come Dancing, also took ‘ordinary people’ (an awful term) and attempted to transform them into ball room dancers. We saw them week upon week become more graceful and confident, even if they were never going to win or really make the grade. Part of the fascination was their stories, their real lives, but sadly those narratives are being swiftly eroded.

Increasingly, we are being offered up alternatives that only feature ‘celebrities’. Celebrity Come Dancing displaced its everyday progenitor. To be fair some shows, like Big Brother, actually generated ‘celebrities’, but even this was eventually overshadowed by a Celebrity version.

Of course, we still have shows like the Chase and the obligatory singing contests, but more and more we are being asked to give our attention to people who already claim enough of it.

Why would we want to explore the lineage of an ‘ordinary’ person on the tracing ancestry shows when we could explore the pre-history of a famous singer or newsreader? Well, me actually.

It’s reached the point where even the most well-known movie stars are taking the jobs struggling actors used to rely on – adverts. Honestly, don’t they remember what it was like before they made it? Do they really need more money? Even more attention?

For myself, I would like to return to the days when ‘ordinary’ people were given more opportunities. To a time when celebrity was not the end goal of so many people, and when renown was earned by dint of talent, courage or skill.

I also believe that curbing the rise of celebrity would help the famous themselves. They won’t be constantly striving for attention, which in itself can be degrading and harmful. After all, just like money, you can never have enough fame, it’s a boundless currency…

We cannot go back, I know that, but in this case, I wish we could…

[si-contact-form form=’2′]